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Google had its 2-hour-long I/O 2023 keynote last week, where for the first time we saw not one or two but three big hardware launches. It seems Google has followed Apple’s cue to use the developer conference to showcase and announce new hardware products, giving the developers an early look at supporting these devices.

In Google’s case, you have the Pixel Fold foldable phone, the Pixel tablet which was teased at the Pixel 7 series launch last year and some other interesting features on Maps and other AI-centric products.

While the launches got everyone excited, the launch timelines, their prices and market availability made it clear that Indian consumers will once again miss out on these new Pixel category products and the Maps feature.

No Pixel Fold Or Tablet for Indians

The Pixel Fold or the Tablet is not part of Google’s launch plans in India. The company has already launched the Pixel 7a which comes for Rs 43,999 (Rs 39,999 with some offers). We have seen this strategy from Google India before, when they decided against launching the 5G-centric Pixel 4, 5 and 6 series.

Instead, we got the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 6a. Eventually, Google decided to bring the Pixel 7 series to the country, which only got 5G support in March this year.

Google says India is a big part of its plans, but not having Fold over here suggests the company is taking a conservative approach with its first-gen foldable and bringing it to mature markets. India is still nascent in that regard, so bringing a $1800 (Rs 1.48 lakh approx) foldable to the market might be dubbed as dead-on-arrival, so we get the business decision behind it.

Having said that, the Pixel tablet costs under $500 (Rs 40,000 approx) and has a dual-purpose thanks to the charging dock and opens a new category for the smart home users. Surely, the company could have brought the tablet to the country? Either way, we’ll never know the official reason behind skipping these launches.

Maps Gets Immersive But Only In Few Cities

Maps was part of the I/O 2023 lineup where Google showed us the new immersive live view feature. The name of the cities getting this option is limited, and no Indian cities were mentioned. Maps is extremely popular in India thanks to a majority of users with an Android phone. Street view recently made its way to the country after many years of struggle for varied reasons. Surely, the immersive avatar should also be introduced in the country.